K.M. Keddie

Kate Mary (Wilson) Keddie (1887-1966) was born in Seven Islands, Quebec. She moved to Montreal as a teenager where she was employed as a stenographer then later moved to Cumberland House, Saskatchewan where she met and married Philip Keddie. She was one of three people who survived the 1918 flu epidemic that killed most of the town's inhabitants, including her husband. Following this, K.M. Keddie moved to Manitoba where she worked as a court reporter, public stenographer, and Commissioner of Oaths. In 1930, she joined the staff of the International Grenfell Association and was sent to North West River, Labrador where she worked for three years as a hostess in the hospital. Then she went to Cartwright, Labrador where she established the handicraft department of the Grenfell Mission. As Industrial Director, in charge of handicrafts she travelled the Labrador coast and kept an account of her trips. She retired in 1958 and in 1960 went to Victoria, B.C to learn oil painting. She died in Winnipeg, Manitoba on November 2nd, 1966.